Between an Archeologist and a Hard Place
by RenKain
Summary: Zoro finds himself in a very...interesting...position. To his utter embarrassment, so does Robin. ZoroxRobin One-Shot. Be warned, M for a reason.


Okay, this one is a little old but I thought I would post it anyway. It's my second attempt at anything even remotely smutty and my first attempt with this pairing. I don't usually ship it (not that I wouldn't if that was what their little hearts desired) but neither am I against it. The whole getting into their heads thing was a little unnerving and I apologize if I missed the mark a bit, as Robin is somewhere along the line of a somewhat-evil-genius and Zoro is...well, Zoro.

I hope it isn't too disappointing either way.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Warnings: M: Language and Mature Themes.

Description: Zoro finds himself trapped in a very…interesting…position. To his utter embarrassment, so does Robin.

* * *

><p>He just needed to learn how to mind his own damn business and that was all there was to it.<p>

Zoro glared up at where his wrists were fastened to the side of the wall, tugging ineffectively on the thick metal cuffs. He supposed he could just rip the things right out of the wood but as he was currently below the deck of the Sunny, he really didn't want to have to fight off an enraged cyborg just to reach freedom. Also, a gaping hole would lead to a lot of questions of its origin, and Zoro was not ready to admit that he had been nosing around the crate of items brought on board a couple of days ago. Not that this would have raised any eyebrows, apart from the actual nature of the crate's contents.

He didn't know why he was so curious about the things but couldn't stop himself from sneaking below deck in the middle of the night to rifle through the items, feeling quite perverted for the first time in his life.

Zoro had never considered himself a pervert before, had in fact classified himself the same way as most of his crew tended to do; he was almost completely asexual. Never attracted to any person of either gender, never showing any real interest in even being involved with anyone intimately in any way. There had even been rumors that he was gay, and although Zoro couldn't say for certain, having never explored the possibility, he doubted this was the case.

The thing was, he was simply too focused on training, meditating and actual fighting to allow himself to think too much about other things, apart from food and sleep. He had built himself into a war machine, his only purpose in life to become the strongest swordsman in the world. And his crew knew it as well as he did.

Which was why Zoro was now seriously contemplating risking Franky's wrath and inventing a story for the damage just to get away from the cuffs pinning his arms against the wall above his head. His crew would also know exactly what those cuffs were, and what they were intended for, thanks to an overly-intelligent archeologist and an annoyingly lecherous cook.

When the Straw Hats had stumbled across the artifacts hidden in the dungeon of a dilapidated fortress on the last island, Nami had immediately claimed them when Robin told her they were most likely extremely valuable. She had just as immediately backed off when Sanji darted forward in a panic, ordering everyone to avoid actually touching any of the items. When asked for a reason behind his warning Sanji had simply blushed and stuttered.

Robin, being extremely clever but far more blunt than was strictly necessary, didn't bat an eye as she told the rest of the crew that the artifacts were most likely 'ancient sex toys'.

Nami had backed off instantly and ran into Ussop, who jumped away from her as if he had been burned. Sanji blushed even harder and Brook's and Franky's expressions had taken on a distinctly creepy hint, perverted smirks and all. Chopper had tactfully pretended not to hear the explanation and Luffy just looked blank. Zoro's reaction however was, although invisible to the rest of the Straw Hats, something he himself was unable to forget.

Hearing the word 'sex' fall so blatantly from the lips of _Robin_ of all people did absolutely nothing to stop the images that flooded through Zoro's mind as what she had said hit home. It had in fact fueled them, which had been even more disturbing. Over the next few days he had done his best to keep his mind from wandering down to the crate and it's contents, a sudden need to quench his unexpected curiosity driving him half-crazy.

This was why, after the third day, Zoro had found himself creeping up to the crate in the semi dark storage room, lantern in hand, to take a closer look at the artifacts. If he could manage to convince himself that there was really nothing special about the items, maybe he could finally let it go.

Zoro had set the lantern on a nearby up-turned crate and leaned over the one in front of him. He had left his katana up in the men's sleeping quarters to lessen the chances of being heard as he snuck around, feeling an unexplainable sense of guilt and excitement as he reached out and ran a finger along the top item, interest piqued by the strange markings carved into the metal.

The item had rocketed from the crate without warning, clamping around his wrist and throwing him back onto the sealed crate sitting against the wall. Reaching his other hand up to try to wrench free, the second cuff had sealed that wrist as well, and before he knew it Zoro was sitting on top of a wooden box, hands fastened above his head and unable to move.

Well, this sucked.

He was now an official pervert. Moreover, he was an official pervert who was about to be caught in the act of being an official pervert by the rest of his crew. It was not something to which Zoro was especially looking forward.

After several attempts to force his wrists from the surprisingly strong cuffs Zoro sat quietly, thinking hard. No one would be missing him yet, it wasn't his night to be on watch. He still had some time to get free and return to the upper decks before anyone caught on to where he had gone. Zoro looked over at the lantern burning on the crate next to his own. He wished he had turned it down a bit, the bright light was making it difficult to think. Or maybe he was just really tired.

Zoro didn't remember being particularly fatigued when he had come down to the storage area, but then again he had been taken by sudden urges to lay down wherever he was and go to sleep randomly before. He leaned his head back against the smooth wood of the wall and closed his eyes. Maybe a short nap wouldn't hurt, he thought. Then he could get back to cooking up an escape plan with a clear head.

Light green eyes slid closed in relief and Zoro relaxed his arms, letting the cuffs take their full weight as he leaned heavily into the wall. He was just starting to doze off when the sound of steady, clipped footsteps sounded on the stairs leading down to the storage area. Zoro's eyes snapped open again and he strained to listen, to figure out who was about to catch him red-handed meddling with things that were too embarrassing for him to even talk about out loud. Not that it would matter who it was, he thought frantically. The level of mortification would be the same.

Still, Zoro listened harder as the footsteps approached slowly. They were light, with a faint clacking sound and obviously heavier than Chopper's. Zoro swallowed audibly. That left only two other possibilities; either Robin or, he gulped again, Nami.

_Please don't let it be the witch, _Zoro thought frantically. _Anyone but her…or the bastard cook…_

But it was definitely not Sanji, the hard shoes favored by the Straw Hat cook made a more distinct clack than the ones coming closer to him now. He watched the door handle turn, agonizingly slow, and knew who it was a moment before Robin stepped into view. She was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and soft pants, and had probably just been getting ready for bed. Her steady azure eyes moved from him to the crate of artifacts and up to the cuffs before returning to his face.

"Swordsman," she said without a hint of laughter, or even surprise. Then again Robin rarely looked surprised. Her face was completely passive as she continued to stare him down, not moving from the door.

Zoro had frozen into an unmovable statue the moment she had entered the room, his palms beginning to sweat and the foggy swirling of his mind intensifying until he had to struggle to look at her through the light of the lantern. Still he said nothing, and neither did she, for several long moments.

Finally, Zoro couldn't take it anymore. "Not what it looks like," he muttered, tugging again at the cuffs.

Robin's face twitched almost imperceptibly as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "And what does it look like?" she asked levelly.

"Turn that damn light down," Zoro said suddenly. "It's too bright."

Robin's gaze intensified and she frowned for a fraction of a second before doing as he instructed. She then did one better and set the lantern on the floor on the other side of the crate to hide the flame from the swordsman's suddenly sensitive eyes. Robin sat herself where the lantern had been a moment before and looked back over at Zoro, trapped against the wall only a few feet away.

"I was just-" Zoro began, feeling incredibly awkward and foolish. "I mean, I didn't- I wasn't-"

"Swordsman," Robin said again, and the simple title stopped Zoro in his tracks. "I'm not going to ask what you were doing down here. However," she continued as the bound man tried to defend his actions again, "some of these artifacts can be very dangerous." Her gaze rose from his face to the cuffs and the frown returned. "Are you feeling disoriented at all? Tired, maybe?"

"Yeah," Zoro nodded. "All I did was touch them, but they grabbed me, and…" he trailed off, turning his face away from the archeologist. "What the hell are they?"

"Nocte Cuffs," Robin answered calmly. "Of all the artifacts in that crate, these are without a doubt the most extreme for their use."

Remembering the 'use' Robin had mentioned before, Zoro felt his cheeks burn and was glad he was already facing away from her. "Extreme?" he repeated.

"Not only do they hold the intended submissive party, but they are also somewhat enchanted and work as a drug against the one wearing them." Robin gave a faint sigh and continued, "I doubt their original purpose was for something _completely_ consensual, but I could be wrong."

"How do you know so much about them?" Zoro asked groggily.

Robin leaned across the distance between them and ran her fingers along the markings slashed into the metal of the cuffs. "These," she said. "It's a language from the ancient Uurstienian Kingdom."

In any other situation Zoro would have been unsurprised to the point of being annoyed that Robin could read such an old and irrelevant language. At the moment he was far too distracted by her scent and the close proximity of her face to his. Her breath, which smelled faintly of sweet wine, brushed against his skin and Zoro fought down a sudden urge to move closer.

What was wrong with him?

"We have to get you out of these," Robin said quietly. "That much is quite obvious. But," she hesitated, which caught Zoro's attention. Robin always seemed so sure of herself, he found it a little startling as he watched her pull back and chew on her bottom lip. This action in turn made him completely forget what had startled him in the first place.

"I don't feel right," he muttered, frowning in confusion.

True, he trusted Robin a lot more since the events at Enis Lobby, had been trusting her a just little more every day since then. In combat, at least, and to protect the ship and crew along with the rest of them. But to feel such a pull toward her now, and of such a specific nature… Zoro shook his head in an attempt to clear it, tensing when he felt Robin's hand touch his chest lightly.

"Try to stay with me," she insisted. "Focus."

"I'm trying," Zoro rumbled back at her. "Get these damned things off me." He figured the source behind the mist in his brain was the spell or enchantment or whatever it was that the cuffs carried. The only reasonable solution would be to remove them, as soon as possible.

Robin pulled away again. "The only way to remove them is for you to experience an orgasm," she said with a painful bluntness that rivaled Zoro's own.

Zoro whipped his head around to stare at her. "_What?_"

"You knew the use of these artifacts when you came down here," Robin reasoned, although she was no longer looking at him.

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" Zoro demanded, abruptly angry. "I can't exactly reach, you know." He tugged on the cuffs for emphasis.

"I know," Robin replied.

"Well," Zoro scowled, "then what…oh." His face grew hot again as he realized all at once exactly what she was implying. "No," he said flatly.

"Would you rather stay here for someone else to find?" Robin offered. "It could be bad for you if that happened."

"How is this not bad right now?" Zoro bit back. "_You've _already found me!"

"I won't say a word," Robin answered without missing a beat.

Zoro opened his mouth, closed it again, and stared at her. Was she offering what he thought she was offering? Was he supposed to refuse, or…? Zoro couldn't think of a proper response, not when the dark-haired woman was sliding closer to him, her hand on his chest again.

Robin swung herself around and knelt down in front of the crate where Zoro sat, sliding up until her body was between his knees. She moved her hand down to the hook of his haramaki and leaned in to whisper, "I promise, not a word."

Her warm lips closed around the shell of his ear, tongue running along the three gold earrings, and to his horror Zoro heard himself let out a low moan. He didn't think he could have fought her off at that point even if his hands weren't bound.

"Yes?" Robin asked, voice still barely above a whisper, and Zoro felt himself give the slightest of nods without really thinking about what he was agreeing to.

Slim fingers removed the haramaki deftly, one hand placing it on the second crate as the other slid over the noticeable bulge in his pants. Real hands, Zoro thought with some relief, not the phantom ones. His brain ground to a halt as Robin flicked the snap of his pants open and those fingers moved inside, brushing the skin of his erection at the same time she gently bit his collar bone.

Why was she doing this? Why not just leave him where he was and let him deal with it on his own? Because they were on the same crew? That wouldn't have stopped Nami from using the situation as blackmail in some form, Zoro thought vaguely, then blocked all thoughts of the witch from his mind as the warm fingers around his erection tightened a fraction and he moaned again.

Robin leaned into him, her chest pressed against his, as she moved from one side of his neck to the other, her unoccupied hand sliding up under his shirt to scrape fingernails across the skin of his ribs. She moved it to his back to repeat the action before running down to the top of his pants, giving a light pull.

Zoro got the hint and lifted his hips enough for Robin to yank his pants down past his knees, setting his bare ass back on the crate. In the back of his mind he wondered how it would be to have to go to Chopper to get any potential splinters removed. This though too was promptly pushed away as Robin moved down to lift the bottom of his shirt, her mouth moving along his abdomen and down the trail of light green hair to the base of his shaft.

Zoro tensed, hands clenched nervously above him. This was a bit of a new experience for the swordsman, not helped by the fact that his brain had apparently turned to mush, and he shied away from her for a moment. "Robin…"

Robin halted her descent and lowered his shirt, sliding back up and pressing her lips to his in a surprisingly chaste kiss. "It's alright, Zoro," she murmured.

Zoro was so shocked to hear her say his given name that he didn't protest again as she knelt in front of him once more, resuming her previous activity. He closed his eyes as her fingers picked up speed, biting down on his lip to keep from groaning. What was she doing to him? Why couldn't he think straight?

Zoro's eyes shot open at the feeling of something warm and wet enveloping the head of his shaft and he didn't even try to hold back the somewhat loud moan at the sensation, hands clenching again as even more of him was swallowed into that impossibly wonderful heat. "Robin…"

Robin hummed around him and Zoro gasped. Her fingers held his base, rising with her mouth and coming back down again as she sucked him in and moved back repeatedly. The heat was intensifying at an alarming speed, still it was nothing compared to the strong, terrifying, _incredible_ feelings pulsing through his nerve endings and tightening in his groin. Zoro was used to powerful feelings; survival, ambition, a need to protect what he wanted most. But this…this was a completely different sensation altogether, although no weaker for it.

"Nnn…" he groaned. "Sh-shit. Wha-"

Zoro tried to reach down to Robin, wanting to touch her, to run his fingers through her hair, _something_ to ease the growing pressure she was creating. He discovered he couldn't lower his arms, he wasn't sure of the reason, and settled for slowly thrusting his hips to meet her instead.

Momentarily thrown off by the movement Robin quickly adjusted her hold and hummed again, causing Zoro to push his head back into the wall, eyes closed. He opened them again and sighed when Robin's other hand came down out of his shirt to roll his sac between clever fingers.

Minute by minute the heat and pressure grew as he watched her take him in, over and over again until he could barely stand it anymore. His body tightened and he felt the cuffs tremble against his wrists. "I- Robin," he gasped, trying to form words to tell her, warn her, how close he was to tipping off the edge.

Robin pulled her mouth away, fingers working him quickly, and cupped her hand as Zoro thrust his hips a final time, the cuffs falling away with a clatter that barely masked his short cry as he released into her palm. His arms came down around her and he slumped forward completely, resting his forehead against her shoulder and breathing heavily for several moments.

Robin held him up until his heart rate had slowed to a more normal level and he sat back away from her, against the wall. Zoro took a deep breath and looked down to see Robin watching him with rounded, slightly unfocused eyes. A moment later her mask of vaguely amused indifference was back in place and she stood up, her legs looking a little shaky to Zoro's trained eyes.

His head was beginning to clear around the edges as he studied her from his crate. "You okay?" he asked hoarsely. "I didn't mean-"

"You didn't hurt me," Robin interrupted, knowing what he was thinking. "I just- I should go now. Goodnight, Swordsman." She walked to the door and turned back for a moment. "And like I promised, just between us."

Not trusting himself to say much yet Zoro nodded once and watched her leave. He sat quietly by himself for a few minutes, still shaking the last of the enchantment from his head. He believed she wouldn't tell anyone about what had just happened, although he didn't know how he knew it. Feeling incredibly tired, Zoro picked up his haramaki and the lantern and made his way back out to the deck of the Sunny.

* * *

><p>Locked safely in the girl's bathroom, Robin finally allowed herself to release the breath she had been holding. Her mind replayed the sight she had just witnessed even against the backs of her eyelids as she tried to block it out; Zoro's head thrown back, his muscular body arching under her touch, the soft sounds he made as she methodically drove him higher until he had spiraled so far she could practically feel his orgasm when it hit.<p>

Taking another deep breath, Robin leaned over the sink to wash Zoro's essence from her fingers, still shaking more than she was comfortable with.

As much as she told herself that she had simply been doing what was required of her and nothing more, Robin couldn't stop the soar of ecstasy she experienced just by remembering how the swordsman had said her name, the look on his face as when he released underneath her hand.

Robin doubted it was a feeling she would ever truly forget.


End file.
